Category: Original Cocktails

When we first tried the Four Leaf Clover, the initial result was surprising to my fiancée.  It was a great reminder that everyone’s palate is different, and so we made some tweaks by increasing the Irish whiskey to help it stand out.  The result was something surprisingly creamy and (after tasting them side by side), equally tasty in its own right.  The end is a complimentary pair of cocktails, with Clover Picking being the boozier, but surprisingly gentler cousin.

Clover Picking

Clover Picking

1 ½ oz

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey

¾ oz

Green Chartreuse

¾ oz

Stirrings Ginger Liqueur

¾ oz

Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a Nick & Nora glass. No garnish.

Clover Picking is smooth, sweet, mellow, creamy, and lively. The drink starts off with notes of lemon, apples, spicy ginger, and herbs. The lively nature of the drink gives touches of caramel and floral notes. The slightly creamy mouthfeel is enticing and begs another sip. The finish lingers lengthily, and continues to deliver notes of the whiskey, ginger, and herbs.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Clover Picking is designed as an easy going extension of our Four Leaf Clover.  The riff is designed to help give the Irish Whiskey a more prominent place in the cocktail.  The extra body ends up providing a lift to the amount of texture as well, giving a slight creaminess to the drink.

• Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey  – Is elegant and provides a great base for this cocktail.  The green apple and caramel notes work particularly well here.  If you can’t find it, we found the Dubliner is a nice option as a substitute.
• Green Chartreuse – Green Chartreuse is a 400 year old formula of apline herbs and secret ingredients.  The result is a unique liqueur that’s critical to a wide variety of cocktails, and one we have a hard time recommending a substitute for.  While it is expensive, we recommend the investment.
• Stirring’s Ginger Liqueur – Stirring’s is a spicy and ginger forward liqueur.  We enjoy it for it’s price point, but feel free to substitute another ginger liqueur if you can’t find it.
• Lemon Juice – As always, we highly recommend using fresh squeezed lemon juice for best results.

Irish Whiskey generally is gentler than bourbon or rye, and somewhat similar to scotch in its character.  This can pose challenges when trying to find ingredients that provide the tensions to create balance.  We wanted something that emphasized this balance, but could also give a hat tip to some of the imagery that plays heavily into St. Patrick’s day.  We achieved both in our Four Leaf Clover cocktail, which balances four different ingredients to create something more than the sum of its parts – and that’ll still make you feel lucky.

Four Leaf Clover

Four Leaf Clover

¾ oz

The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth

¾ oz

Green Chartreuse

¾ oz

Stirring’s Ginger Liqueur

¾ oz

Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

The Four Leaf Clover is spicy, bright, sweet, and electric. Just like finding a four leaf clover, it starts with rush of excitement. Caramel, light grain, and sweet herbs lead things off, before ginger and spice kick in. The brightness throughout leaves an electric current across your tongue. The ending lingers with ginger and herbs and just a hint of stone fruit.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Modeled after the Last Word, balance is critical in this drink, and it needs a firmer Irish whiskey to achieve the balance.  We used The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth here because of the weight and powerful flavors that help to stand up to the brightness of the other flavors.

• Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth  – This Irish whiskey brings power of a rich caramelized character to the drink, helping to offset herbal notes and the spice of the ginger.  The sweetness gets to shine with the actual sugar from the liqueurs, and adds another dimension.
• Green Chartreuse – Green Chartreuse is a 400 year old formula of alpine herbs and secret ingredients.  The result is a unique liqueur that’s critical to a wide variety of cocktails, and one we have a hard time recommending a substitute for.  While it is expensive, we recommend the investment.
• Stirring’s Ginger Liqueur – Stirring’s is a spicy and ginger forward liqueur.  We enjoy it for it’s price point, but feel free to substitute another ginger liqueur if you can’t find it.
• Lemon Juice – As always, we highly recommend using fresh squeezed lemon juice for best results.

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, and one of the most well recognized symbols of love is the rose.  As precedes their association with love, roses are sold by the dozens for those seeking to curry their lovers favor.  This of course means a huge demand for roses – in February,  a month where growing seasons are short.  This means that there’s a limited number of local roses that are produced, so some flowers are imported (and as living things, require air freight).  The added demand means that there are more florists who need to be hired and paid.  After all is said and done the price goes way up, and the flowers are expensive.

Flowers Are Expensive

Flowers Are Expensive

1 ½ oz

Empress Gin

½ oz

St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz

Lemon Juice

5 oz

Asti Spumante

Combine all ingredients except the Asti into a shaker and add ice. Shake and double strain into a large coupe. Top with Asti Spumante. Garnish with a rose bud or petal.

Flowers Are Expensive is a delicate and dainty drink that’s both refreshing and lively.  The rose notes of the Empress Gin come out in an elegant flow to meet the round and friendly pops of elderflower from the St. Germain.  The lemon pops the brightness of both, and the Asti provides a bouquet of peach and spring flower blossom notes.   The end is a sweet and sparkling drink that’s simple but layered in it’s character, and is great for entertaining or simply sitting on your deck and chilling.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Like all our drinks, we do significant testing to make sure that the cocktail works out well.  For Flowers Are Expensive we actually started with hibiscus syrup and after multiple iterations ended up at St. Germain.  That said, if you’re willing to take the time and energy, we still fully recommend trying it with a half / half split, which will post the recipe for below.

• Empress Gin – We chose Empress Gin for more than just it’s color.  The floral forward notes make it a wonderful compliment for both St. Germain and the Asti.  While you can use other gins, you’ll want to look for something more floral or contemporary like Aviation (or the now defunct Flower City).
• St Germain Elderflower Liqueur – This is THE bottle when it comes to elderflower liqueurs.  It basically took over menus a decade ago, and it’s still got a place in most restaurants and bars.  We recommend going with St. Germain as we’ve found it to be consistent, but feel free to use another Elderflower liqueur if you can’t find it or already have a different elderflower liqueur in your home bar.
• Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results.  Check out our equipment for starting a home bar to find a recommended hand squeezer if you want to add one to your bar.
• Asti Spumante – Don’t mistake Moscato d’Asti for Asti Spumante.  Moscato d’Asti can have light carbonation and is also delicious, but what you want is Asti Spumante, which is sparkling wine (think like Cava or Champagne) and has the cage on the neck to match.  We recommend Cinzano’s Asti Spumante here or Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante.  Both will add delightful floral notes, stone fruit flavors, and a subtle sweetness.
• Dried Rose Bud – We’ve found our most reasonably priced source for these little rose buds is the local Asian market, but you can also buy them from Amazon*.

Variations:

To add another layer of complexity and increase the floral nature of the drink, reduce the St. Germain to ¼ and add a ¼ oz of Hibiscus Syrup.

Hibiscus Syrup

• 300 g Water
• 300 g Granulated Sugar
• 12 g Dried Hibiscus Flowers

Place the dried hibiscus flowers in a tea sachet and close.  In a sauce pot, bring water and sugar to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Add the sachet containing the dried hibiscus flowers and boil for 5 minutes.   Remove from heat and remove the sachet.  Allow to cool before bottling.  Add an optional 30g of neutral grain spirit for preservative purposes if desired.  Refrigerate.  Dispose of if any mold or clouding develops.

* – This link is an Amazon affiliate link that may result in First Pour Cocktails receiving a portion of the sale of the item.  These sales help us keep the website running and bringing you new original cocktails.  As of this posting, we lose money every year, so please consider using our links when purchasing items related to our cocktails and reviews!  Thanks!

Looking for something more bourbon forward?  Why not try a Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic?

Welcome to our annual return to Valentine’s Day cocktails!  Over the past two years, we’ve created a handful of drinks to help enhance your romantic celebration.  We started with some riffs on a Love Potion using rum, before turning our attention to chocolate vodka with lots of strawberries in our Chocolate Covered Strawberry.  The syrup even doubled for mocktail purposes in our Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hot Chocolate.  We wanted to expand the line up, and to lead things off this year, we wanted something boozy that could stand up to the frigid temps with a little bit of sweetness. A real whiskey forward manly drink.  After all, Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic?

Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic?

Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic

2 oz

Maker’s Mark 46

¼ oz

Brown Sugar Syrup

2 Dashes

Peychaud’s Bitters

1 Dash

Angostura Bitters

Rinse

St. George Absinthe Verte

Rinse a chilled rocks glass with St. George Absinthe Verte. Dispose of the excess or set aside in a glass for later use. Combine all remaining ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into the absinthe rinsed rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic is a layered experience that leads with a brown sugar and french vanilla sweetness.  It parts into a lanolin texture with notes of spicy oak and caramel with hints of candied cherries.  The ending brings on a balanced touch of bitterness, rounding things out with a pop of clove, herbs, hints of anise, and a bit of sweetened caramelized oak.   The overall experience is sweet, herbal, balanced, and complex in all the right ways.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

The original inspiration for this cocktail turned out to be anything but romantic (Rolling Stone’s Brown Sugar – which has since been retired and is not particularly appropriate once you read the lyrics).   That aside, there’s a certain charming character to the city of New Orleans which is named in the first couple of lines.  One of the quintessential drinks that hails from The Big Easy is the Sazerac, which is an amazing classic that we’ve tweaked slightly for this recipe.  One thing to note is that ingredient choices are very critical to the outcome of the finished cocktail.

• Maker’s Mark 46 – The vanilla and caramel notes are positively critical to the outcome of this cocktail.  While you should be able to find it, you could try to replace it another French oak finished bourbon.
• St. George Absinthe Verte – We like St. George for it’s quality and heady herbaceous hit.  You don’t need to St. George, but we recommend using an actual absinthe over a pastis like Pernod.
• Peychaud’s Bitters – These are the standard for any Sazerac.  You can purchase them at most well appointed liquor stores or through Amazon*.
• Angostura Bitters – These are the gold standard of bitters.  You should have a bottle in your bar, and you can purchase them most grocery stores or Amazon*.
• Brown Sugar Syrup – The brown sugar syrup is a rich syrup, and we’ve detailed our recipe as shown below.

Brown Sugar Syrup

• 200 g Brown Sugar
• 100 g Water

Instructions:

• Sous Vide: In a small mason jar, combine brown sugar and water.  Put the lid on and shake to combine. Place in a sous vide at 145 degrees for 2 hours.  Remove from the water and allow to cool for an hour.  Bottle and refrigerate.   Dispose of if mold or haze develops.
• Sauce Pot: Combine Brown Sugar and Water in a sauce pot over medium – low heat. Slowly heat until sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat, and allow to cool. Bottle and refrigerate. Dispose of if mold or haze develops.

* – Amazon links contain affiliate links that may result in First Pour Cocktails receiving a portion of the sale.  These commissions help us keep researching new drinks and pay for the webhosting!

Looking for something more sweet and floral?  Why not try a Flowers Are Expensive:

Cocktails can be unnecessarily complicated.  They feature hard to find, hard to pronounce, or hard to make ingredients.  Sometimes cocktails that have a lot of steps are just the thing to spark your imagination, but heading into the holidays we all need something a little simpler to make.  Enter the Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned, a drink founded on the spices of rye forward bourbon, maple syrup, cinnamon (brooms), and walnuts.  Make the cinnamon simple, buy the bitters, batch it up, make some big ice cubes, and impress your guests with a great fall cocktail.

Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned

Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned

2 oz

Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon

¼ oz

Maple Syrup

¼ oz

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

1 Dash

Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a rocks glass over a large fresh ice cube. No garnish.

The Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned combines the beauty of Wild Turkey 101’s spice profile and the sweetness of fall flavors into an Old Fashioned template.  The maple and cinnamon play off each other, with the maple doing the lead in, and the cinnamon delivering the mid-palate and finish.  The ending is sweet with just the right note of spice and nuttiness.  The ice cube keeps the drink perfect at the house warms up with turkey, ham, guests, and the cheerfully crackling fire place.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

There’s not a lot here that can go wrong here, and the template is riffable from a base spirit and syrup standpoint.  The result is that this drink is super simple to make for parties or even to batch.  Please note, the picture shown is for a double preparation.

• Wild Turkey 101 – We used Wild Turkey 101 here for both body from the proof and spice from the rye profile.  We recommend you stick to a similar template when swapping the base spirit, looking at bonded or 100 to 110 proof bourbon or rye for this recipe.  Other great potential choices include Rittenhouse Rye and Maker’s Mark Cask Strength.
• Fee Bros Black Walnut Bitters –  These bitters have a nutty, distinctly sweet character that fringes into maple.  The result is a double down on the maple notes that help to make the drink sing.  You can find them at your local liquor store or through this Amazon affiliate link that would give us like $0.15 and doesn’t even start to cover our webhosting costs (but helps us keep making you awesome new cocktails).
• Maple Syrup – We recommend using a grade A maple syrup for this cocktail to enrich the maple flavor.  We used Trader Joe’s in ours, so don’t feel the need to break the bank.
• Cinnamon Simple Syrup -Method 1:  Combine 250g of sugar with 250g of water in a sous vide bag or small mason jar. Add 10g of cinnamon broken into 1″ pieces.  Shake to combine.  Sous vide for 2 hours at 145°F.   Remove from water bath and allow to cool.  Once cool, strain cinnamon pieces from syrup using a chinois and coffee filter.  Add .5 oz of Everclear / overproof vodka and shake gentle for 1 -2 seconds to combine.  Store in fridge.  Discard if no longer transparent / any hazy develops.
  • Method 2:  Combine 250g of sugar, 250g of water, and 10 grams of cinnamon broken into 1″ pieces in a pan.  Add heat until sugar is dissolved and syrup reaches a boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Once cool, strain cinnamon pieces from syrup using a chinios and coffee filter.  Add .5 oz of Everclear / overproof vodka and shake gentle for 1 -2 seconds to combine.  Store in fridge.  Discard if no longer transparent / any hazy develops.
  • Note: Everclear / Overproof Vodka are optional – these act as preservatives to extend shelf life.  If you add them, please do not serve to children, pregnant women, or those avoiding alcohol.
  • Note: Method 1 is preferred if you’re able / have the equipment to do so

Transitioning away from Halloween, we enter into the realm of autumnal cocktails that don’t quite reach into Christmas and Holiday spices. There’s still a chill in the air, but it’s time to celebrate the harvest. Squash, apple, pear, and other fall flavors take priority as we head into Thanksgiving.  To lead off, we want to create a cocktail that focus on the most fall like of fruits, the apple.  Enter the Apple Spice Harvest.

Apple Spice Harvest

Apple Spice Harvest

2 oz

Glenlivet 12

¾ oz

Lemon Juice

¾ oz

Pumpkin Spice

3 oz

Fresh Apple Cider

Dusting

Cinnamon Dust

Combine all ingredients in a shaker except for cinnamon. Add ice and shake hard. Strain into a collins glass filled with fresh cubed ice. Garnish a dusting of cinnamon dust.

Apple Spice Harvest a well balanced mixture of soft and floral scotch contrasted against vibrant fresh apple.   The spicing from the pumpkin spice gives a beautiful pie like note, and warms the entire cocktail.  The lemon gives a pop, and the entire experience is seamless and quaffable.  The perfect sort of drink for watching the leaves change and passing afternoons with friends.

Drink Recommendations and Notes

Apple Spice Harvest is a fairly straightforward drink designed to be served over ice in a Collins glass.  The most complex element is the scotch, where we recommend you steer toward lighter scotches with less peat influence.

• Glenlivet 12 – We chose to utilize Glenlivet 12 here thanks to it’s fruit forward and gentle oak influence.  The tropical notes also work well with the fruitiness of the apple.  If you’re looking to substitute, choose something that’s lower on smoke, such as Dewars White Label or Great King Street.
• Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results.
• Apple Cider – Use fresh pressed cider for the best results.  Non-pasteurized will lead to the best results.
• Pumpkin Spice Syrup – See below for our full recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Ingredients:

• 20g Cinnamon (crushed into approx 1 in sections)
• 10g Nutmeg – broken into 10-20 pieces / nutmeg using the back of a knife or mortar and pestle
• 5g Cloves
• 7g Fresh Ginger cut into thin slices – 1/16″ – 1/8″
• 500g Water
• 500g Sugar
• 30g Neutral Grain Spirit (optional)

Bring all ingredients except neutral grain spirit to a boil in a sauce pot stirring regularly.  Boil for 5 minutes while continuing to stir regularly.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes.  Strain through a coffee filter into a clean glass bottle and add neutral grain spirits if using.  Refrigerate.  Dispose of if any clouding or mold develop.

Growing up there were all sorts of Halloween specials that networks would air ranging from one time specials to blocks of spooky shows (like Scooby Doo or the Most Haunted Places on Earth).  Some became classics, like the Simpson’s Tree House of Horror V, while others, like the Halloween Tree hang out at the edge of peoples memories.  Among the most popular and oldest of these specials is It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  It aired annually on broadcast networks from 1966 to 2019, before Apple+ became it’s home in 2020 – ending the streak.  It will return this year on PBS, to introduce another group of children to the idea of the great pumpkin and Charlie Brown’s rotten luck, that resulted in the phrase ‘I Got A Rock”.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

In It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown the kids go trick-or-treating.  After each house, the kids discuss their haul.  The exchange occurs 3 times, per Wikiquote:

Kids: Trick or treat! Money or eats!

Lucy: [after getting her bag filled] Can I have an extra piece of candy for my stupid brother? He couldn’t come with us ’cause he’s sitting in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin. [gets her extra candy, then the other kids get their bags filled] It’s so embarrassing to have to ask for something extra for that blockhead Linus?

[everyone announces what they got in their trick-or-treat bag]

Lucy: I got 5 pieces of candy!

Violet: I got a chocolate bar!

Patty: I got a quarter!

Charlie Brown: I got a rock.

In subsequent exchanges, the items each person gets changes, ranging from gum to popcorn balls to more chocolate.  This continued exchange became our inspiration for the cocktail.  As they’re Peanuts, we utilize a small amount of Peanut Butter Whiskey.  For the popcorn ball, we add in popcorn simple syrup.  Finally, we serve the entire creation over a rock.

I Got A Rock

I Got A Rock

1 ½ oz

Jim Beam White Label

¾ oz

Popcorn Simple Syrup

Barspoon

Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Serve with a side of popcorn or cracker jacks.

The first sip of “I Got A Rock” is sweet and nutty with a good dose of spice.  As it evolves, light notes of popcorn build.  On the finish, the popcorn comes through the strongest with a continuation of the caramel and peanut flavor.   It’s a simple, sessionable cocktail that pairs exceptionally good with buttered popcorn.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Building this cocktail is pretty straightforward, but there are a few tips and tricks that are worth knowing.  First, dilution is important in this drink.  We originally tried making this cocktail with Jim Beam Bonded, and found that it overpowered the other flavors – until the ice had a chance to melt.  The solution to this is using lower proof, such a Jim Beam White Label, and making sure that you’re thoroughly stirred the drink.  You should aim for 12-20 seconds.

Secondly, since popcorn is made with fat (to make it pop), you’ll need to chill your syrup, and strain off the top layer before you make the drink.  If you don’t, you’ll notice a layer of fat floating at the top of the container you use to store the syrup.  This won’t necessarily effect the syrup, but it’s not ideal from a presentation standpoint.

• Jim Beam White Label – Jim Beam is often described as having a ‘peanut funk’ to it, and we’ve found that to be true.  This helps to double down on the Peanuts theme, and adds other spice notes.  The lower proof is also critical, and we’ve found white label works the best, but feel free to experiment with other Jim Beam offerings.
• Popcorn Simple Syrup – The full recipe is below, we use ours chilled from the fridge.
• Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey – Skrewball is powerful in terms of its peanut butter flavor.  Resist the urge to go heavy as it will overpower the other ingredients.

Popcorn Simple Syrup

When making the popcorn for this recipe, we used Orville Redenbacher popcorn from the jar, instead of microwave or already popped popcorn.  The intention is to control the fat that you’ll later have to remove from the syrup once chilled.

• 35g of fresh popped popcorn – (we used coconut oil to pop ours)
• 500g sugar
• 500g water
• 30g Neutral Grain Spirit (Optional)

Bring water & sugar to boil in a sauce pan. Add popcorn. Steep while stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Allow to cool at least 1 half hour. Place into a clean glass container. If desired, add neutral grain spirit. Shake. Refrigerate

Looking for more Halloween Cocktails?  Check out our full list here:

The first of our Halloween Cocktails for 2021, the Basic Witch started its life as a Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned. The original test using Wild Turkey 101 and Pumpkin Spice Syrup resulted in a super spicy but not particularly balanced drink. This resulted in wondering how we could still create a basic pumpkin spice drink, but keep a balance. The result was a riff on the basic bitch love of pumpkin spice lattes and a nod to raising the beast from the depths, the Kraken.

Basic Witch

Basic Witch

2 oz

Kraken Rum

½ oz

Demerara Syrup

1 oz

Heavy Cream

½ oz

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

5 drops

Fee Bros Old Fashioned Bitters

Dusting

Cinnamon

In a mixing vessel, combine rum and demerara syrup. Add ice and stir. In a separate glass, combine heavy cream and pumpkin spice syrup. Using a milk frother, whip the cream and syrup together for 20-25 seconds to create cold foam. Pour the rum and demerara mixture into a rocks glass.  Layer the cold foam over the top of the rum using the back of a spoon.  Add a dusting of cinnamon and use a bar straw or pipette dropper to drops of bitters to the foam.

The Basic Witch results in a mix of sweet and roasted sugar notes from the rum being contrasted with gentle pie spices and cream. The layering results in a changing drink experience that swings between creamy and spiced and boozy and brown sugar. The harmony between the results in a brown sugar laced pumpkin spice creaminess that sweet and balanced. Toward the end, the creaminess brings the drink full circle, giving an almost coffee and cream like character to the drink.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

As with any cocktails that involve cream, there is a potential for the cream to curdle in the Basic Witch.  This is most often due to acid, but can also be caused by alcohol.  Due to the proof of Kraken, there is a good chance to curdle this drink.  To avoid this, go slowly when pouring the cream over the back of the layering spoon.  In addition, avoid heavily agitating this drink.  It is recommend you pour the cream it as close to where your guests will being enjoying it as possible.  Walking up stairs for example, could agitate the drink and result in curdling.

Ingredients

• Kraken Black Spiced Rum – We chose Kraken for it’s rich vanilla and molasses notes, as well as subtle and roasty spices.  This offering it should be noted is their original, which comes in at 94 proof.   Kraken is a black spiced rum that should be widely available, but in a pinch, you might consider Goslings.
• Demerara Syrup –  Combine 2 parts Demerara Sugar to 1 part water and bring to a simmer stirring over high heat.  Remove from heat once the sugar has completely dissolved.  Allow to cool and bottle.  Refrigerate.   The high sugar content will work to inhibit bacterial growth for an extended duration – throw out if any clouding or mold develop.
• Heavy Cream – Use heavy cream here to ensure the fat content is high enough to reduce the risk of curdling.  Make sure your cream is cold.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Ingredients:

• 20g Cinnamon (crushed into approx 1 in sections)
• 10g Nutmeg – broken into 10-20 pieces / nutmeg using the back of a knife or mortar and pestle
• 5g Cloves
• 7g Fresh Ginger cut into thin slices – 1/16″ – 1/8″
• 500g Water
• 500g Sugar
• 30g Neutral Grain Spirit (optional)

Bring all ingredients except neutral grain spirit to a boil in a sauce pot stirring regularly.  Boil for 5 minutes while continuing to stir regularly.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes.  Strain through a coffee filter into a clean glass bottle and add neutral grain spirits if using.  Refrigerate.  Dispose of if any clouding or mold develop.

Equipment and Techniques

• Milk Frother:  These are used to agitate milk or other ingredients (for example whipping egg whites) at high rates of speed.  They don’t require a lot of skill to use, and don’t require heated milk to make foam.  We use a Bean Envy which you can have from Amazon for under $20 (and use it with your coffee!)
• Creating the Cold Foam: Using a milk frother, start by submerging the wheel of the milk frother into the cream and syrup.  Turn on the milk frother so you can see the creaming being drawn into the center (and into the wheel).  This process is adding air to the cream.  Continue this for 20 – 25 seconds.  Do not exceed this time significantly or you will create whipped cream.  This amount of time will allow you to pour the thickened, aerated cream over the spoon to layer the drink.  We use this one from Bean Envy*
• Layering the Drink:  Place a bar spoon so the bowl is face down and the spoon is nearly touching the surface of the drink.  Slowly pour the cold foam cream over the back of the spoon, slowly raising the spoon to match the increasing height of the foam.  Continue until you are finished pouring foam.
• Adding the Bitters Design:  Once you have dropped bitters into the cold foam, take a straw or tooth pick and place the tip into the foam before the bitters you want to use to decorate.  Drag the toothpick or straw through the bitter connecting the drops or making a design as you see fit.

* – This link is an affiliate link which may result in First Pour Cocktails getting a portion of the sale – it helps us keep the site running and bringing you new cocktails!

Looking for more Halloween Cocktails?  Check out our full list here:

Part of the tradition of Dyngus Day is for boys to throw water on girls and spank them with pussy willows.  The tradition dates back almost a thousand years (as best historians can tell), and the pussy willow ended up being used in place of the palm, which was not obtainable in Poland.  These would instead be blessed by priests, and used in this post lent celebration as sacred charms – thought to do everything from prevent lightning strikes to bringing good health and fortune..  To celebrate these lovely catkins, and the tradition of Dyngus Day, we thought it only apt to name our drink The Pussy Willow.

The Pussy Willow

The Pussy Willow

1 oz

Krupnik

2 oz

Orange Juice

5 oz

Prosecco

Chill ingredients prior to building. In flute, pour the Krupnik and orange juice. Top with 5 oz of Club Soda. No garnish.

The Pussy Willow has a beautiful orange nose with touches of honey and cinnamon.  A taste gives a pop of beautiful brightness from the fresh orange, quickly followed by notes of baked strudel covered in honey. The sweetness is balanced and the bubbles give a nice palate refreshing character.  Thanks to the low A.B.V. it also won’t put you out of commission before you enjoy too many pierogis!

Drink Notes & Recommendations

We made two versions of the Pussy Willow, one with fresh squeezed orange juice and one with bottled.  There’s no comparison.  The fresh orange is beautiful, adding a fresh dimension that elevates the drink to the next level.  You can smell it wafting out of the glass.  By contrast, you smell honey from the bottled version.   The orange is there, but it isn’t harmonious with the spices or honey, instead just showing up from time to.

In summary, tl:dr; use fresh orange juice.

• Krupnik – As mentioned before, some commercially available Krupnik’s are on the market.  In our recipe, we use our homemade version which can be found here.
• Orange Juice – We greatly recommend fresh squeezed here.  You can strain it through a conical strainer if you don’t like pulp.  You could also use bottled if you have to – but expect a much more tart experience.
• Club Soda – You could by super duper fancy club soda, but your regular grocery store generic brand is going to work, but leave the drink feeling flat.
• Glassware – Flutes are the preferred vessel here to mimic the long length of a pussy willow. You should not spank people with your flute.

Dyngus Day doesn’t have a lot of cocktails associated with, and we wanted to use Krupnik to make a special drink in celebration.  When we first tasted the sweetness of Krupnik, we quickly realized that it needed an acidic counterpoint to help with the sweetness.  While most cocktails will call for citrus here, it’s worth remembering that wines contain a decent amount of acidity.   If you make that wine sparkling, you get the added benefit of texture.  These two elements of sparkling wine make it the perfect counterbalance to the luxurious sweetness and richness of Krupnik.  Put them together, and enter the Krupnik Fizz.

Krupnik Fizz

Krupnik Fizz

1 oz

Krupnik

5 oz

Prosecco

Chill ingredients prior to building. In flute, pour the Krupnik. Top with 5 oz of Prosecco. No garnish.

The nose is a bit like Christmas, with plenty of honey, citrus, and spice.   It opens warmly and richly on the palate, with notes of honey, vanilla laden pastry, baking spices, and bright lemon.   Thanks to the sweetness, the baking spices verge into brown sugar and touches of cinnamon and allspice are quite open.   The richness of the Krupnik and size of the bubbles end up producing an almost creamy mouthfeel.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

The Krupnik Fizz is a built drink, so please make sure you chill your ingredients prior to building.  By starting with the Krupnik you can ensure the Prosecco can mix well with the Krupnik (instead of having the Krupnik sink through).  Be aware it will foam heavily due to the sugar when you add it.  Slow down your pour and top up as it recedes.

Finally, if you find the drink too sweet, feel free to add more Prosecco or reduce the Krupnik.

• Krupnik – Our recipe for Krupnik was easy to make, and could be customized to your preference.  If you’re looking for alternatives, I’m aware of some commercially bottled Krupnik, but sadly I’ve never seen one in Ohio.  I therefore can’t recommend a particular brand.
• Prosecco – We used Kirkland’s Asti here, which retails for about $7 a bottle.  You could reasonably use any Cava or Prosecco so long as they’re dry.  Adding more sweetness (sometimes labeled Sec or Ice) will only make this drink cloying.
• Glassware – Use a flute for the classiest presentation and the ability to concentrate the nose.

Let’s say you want to class it up for St. Patrick’s Day.   Something in a fancy glass perhaps?   Aside from the Blackthorn and Irish Coffee in a fancy glass, there aren’t a ton of options.  To remedy this, I decided to try to emphasize the nutty and caramel notes I see in Irish whiskey, and add a little twist.  The resulting cocktail is rich, smooth, and delightfully spicy.  Like a Leprechaun’s Charm.

Leprechaun’s Charm

Leprechaun’s Charm

1.25 oz

The Busker Triple Cask

1.25 oz

Savory & James Fino Sherry

0.25 oz

St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram

0.25 oz

Falernum

1 Twist

Orange

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Strain into a coupe. Express orange oils from the twist over the coupe. Add an additional twist or channeled orange if desired.

Leprechaun’s Charm is an emphasis of the nuttiness of Irish whiskey while bringing in some of the caramel and honeyed notes.  The roller-coaster of flavors starts out in the honeyed notes of the whiskey and spiced notes of the allspice and the falernum.  The sherry cuts through the richness, adding in elements of bright, nuttiness.  The orange opens up the bouquet, adding a freshness.   An ever so subtle bitterness lingers on the ending.

Drink Notes &  Recommendations

This drink is powerful and aggressive, yet balanced.   Don’t expect to pound these all night, they’re designed to experience the variation and combination of flavors.

• Irish Whiskey – I used Jameson in the original and  The Busker Triple Cask in the second test.  Both of them came out well balanced, but the underlying texture of the whiskey was the prevalent characteristic.  The higher proof (or heavier mouthfeel) you use, the heavier this cocktail will feel.
• Allspice Dram –  We recommend St. Elizabeth’s and it’s what we keep in our bar.  Feel free to use what you enjoy or have access to.   Beware – this is a bully ingredient.
• Falernum – We use John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum, but feel free to substitute your preference.
• Sherry – Like a lot of cocktails that feature sherry, you can drag yourself off into a ditch fast here.  We used Fino Sherry de Jerez for this due to the bright, fresh nutty character to it.   This brightness is critical for balance.  I would not recommend using something sweeter like PX or Oloroso.  The brand for this cocktail was Savory & James Fino Sherry.
• Orange Twist – Although it seems trivial, this cocktail is not complete until you express your orange over the cocktail.  Use a fresh orange and vegetable peeler to remove a section of peel.  Pinch the white (interior) side of the peel forward to spray the oils over the the glass.  You can either add this twist to the drink or use a channeler / separate piece of zest for your visual garnish (which is where our twist comes from in the picture).
• Glassware – Serve in a coupe
• The Name – We went with Leprechaun’s Charm as a result of the feeling this smooth, powerful, spicy drink reflected the characteristics of a Leprechaun hiding their pot of gold.